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This chapter deals with the challenging domain of linguistic negation, and it is also the first exposition of the methodology for defining the base (starting point) in Canonical Typology. The base should be minimal in words, and maximally inclusive to avoid being language-specific. At the same time, it should be specific enough for a linguist using it to be able to recognize whether it makes sense to look for the phenomenon in a particular language at all. Two types of Canonical Typology (CT) are also distinguished: ‘exploratory CT’, where the domain of investigation is defined through the...

This chapter deals with the challenging domain of linguistic negation, and it is also the first exposition of the methodology for defining the base (starting point) in Canonical Typology. The base should be minimal in words, and maximally inclusive to avoid being language-specific. At the same time, it should be specific enough for a linguist using it to be able to recognize whether it makes sense to look for the phenomenon in a particular language at all. Two types of Canonical Typology (CT) are also distinguished: ‘exploratory CT’, where the domain of investigation is defined through the base, and criteria are established on the basis of the observed cross-linguistic variation, and ‘retrospective CT’, where the method is applied to resolve issues arising from long-standing debates. The chapter illustrates how the base for linguistic negation is established, and provides eighteen criteria for canonical negation.